Online petition asks Kellogg’s to remove GMOs from products

Public backlash against genetically modified organisms (GMOs) has been gaining traction. Kellogg’s, Battle Creek, Mich., now is the latest company being asked to remove GMOs from its products.

Diana Reeves, founder of GMO Free USA, a group that aims to pressure food manufacturers into switching to GMO-free ingredients, started a petition on Care2.com, an online community for healthy and green living, urging Kellogg’s to remove GMOs from its products after the organization sent a box of Kellogg’s Froot Loops to a lab for genetic testing. The lab results found the corn and soy ingredients in the cereal are 100% Roundup Ready GMO, according to a press release. Roundup, or glyphosate, is an herbicide that is sprayed onto and absorbed by corn and soy plants, which are genetically modified to withstand the toxin.

“It’s disturbing that documents were uncovered that show the [Food and Drug Administration’s] own scientists had safety concerns about GMOs,” says Reeves. “Meanwhile, the chemical companies, like Monsanto, that profit from their sale, are allowed to voluntarily determine if GMOs are safe. While on an otherwise GMO-free diet, my own health improved dramatically after making a single change—switching from vitamins made with GMOs to equivalent vitamins that are not. As a mother, I am appalled that Kellogg’s is putting North America’s children at risk.”

Despite removing GMOs from its products in Europe, Kellogg’s has not yet taken that step in the United States. Reeves hopes the petition, which has gathered nearly 22,000 signatures, will prompt the company to switch to nonGMO ingredients. The petition can be viewed at www.care2.com/go/z/kelloggs.

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